2013 Impuls 71

This wine looked like a nice blend, the back label said “produced and bottled by Impuls Cellars” (meaning they were responsible for the whole effort, not just blending and bottling), and one other thing. The price label from the GO gave the year as 2011, but the front bottle label (pictured) says 2013, a better year. So, I thought maybe it’s something better than it’s priced as. However, the wine didn’t excite me all that much, at least on the first night.

With two hours of air in a decanter, the wine showed elegant and complex medium-bodied fruit of red and purple cherry, black raspberry / boysenberry / blueberry, with rather strong acid, and a finish including prune, tar, and oak. There is some richness of texture in the body. IMO, it’s a pretty good wine, but at least for now, the acid is too strong for my taste (better with food). Perhaps it will age into a more graceful wine.

The saved, single-glass screwcap bottle is better. The fruit is more forward and integrated, pleasantly rich and elegantly complex. The acid is still a little strong, but it’s more of a zing at the end of a longer taste instead of a sharpness that drowns out everything preceding. So, this seems to be a pretty good wine that would be better aged a few years or put in a covered decanter for a day before serving.

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4 thoughts on “2013 Impuls 71”

Honestly, this is just the kind of wine I look for. Too acid? Maybe. Basically, I would say the taste is intense and quite fruity at the outset, with a lingering spiciness. But, I would agree that it improves with decanting.

I agree that the acid was too strong, and I don’t mind higher acid wines. I really didn’t give it a fair shake because I didn’t give it enough time to breathe. It had some nice elements but it felt disjointed to me.

The 2011 Impuls 71 was at the November 2015 GO Wine Sale in the Puget Sound area. I got a case then, just verified 2011. Lim13 didn’t care for it. I thought it needed air. I vaguely remember it being aimed at restaurants. An off-shoot of Tierra Blanca (we’ve also seen their Arch Terrace at GO). Partially Red Mountain juice.

I just picked up the ’12 Titan Cab Franc for $8.99 from Tierra Blanca. Rich dark berry fruit, blackberry & boysenberry fruit, medium bodied with some complexity. Wanted more tannin, a little soft, borderline flabby. The great vintage and Washington fruit stand out, and frankly make the wine. Worth a try, will see how it tastes on Day 2.